Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Book Review: War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Alex recently finished War Horse and really enjoyed it, so I read it, too. I enjoyed it, but I didn't 'love it' as I have several books recently. But, I am looking forward to seeing the movie when it is realeased on DVD April 3rd! (And, that might be a great gift for Alex's Easter basket!)

The story is told from the point of view of the horse, which I found kind of strange. You could 'hear' the horses thoughts, though he didn't talk to anyone - human or animal. And, you could 'hear' people's conversations. But, I felt it strange never to be a part of a conversation. I kind of felt like I wasn't growing that attached to the characters, but that was proven wrong as I shed tears during the ending of the book (though I won't tell you whether they were happy or sad tears!).
The book is about a boy and his horse, Joey, who are separated because of WWI. The horse is set off to war, while his 'boy' is too young to fight. Joey's life at war is a tough one and he makes friends with both people and other horses. As you would expect in a war book, some of his friends die during the war.

I like that this book appeals to both girls (like my daughter who love horses!) and boys (because it is a war story, after all). And, I am glad Alex enjoyed a book about WWI - a topic we'll be covering next year. I do recommend this book, but not as highly as some of the others I've reviewed.

2 comments:

lahbluebonnet said...

I'm interested in seeing the movie.
Blessings,
Laurie

Teacher of One said...

I read this last week... I too was struck that it was told from the horses point of view. I am baffled how they created a Tony Award Winning Play and a movie out of this 160 page book. I want to see both.
Also, I cried twice!

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